Versus Engine
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra) vs Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB)
Specs, price and the one trade-off that actually decides it — Mac Studio (M3 Ultra) against Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB), side by side.
Cheaper to start
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB)
Starts about $2,000 lower.
Rated higher
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)
9.8 vs 9.7 on our design scale.
Standout
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)
819 GB/s unified memory bandwidth
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)
Apple's compact workstation, now with 819 GB/s of unified memory bandwidth.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- 819 GB/s unified memory bandwidth
- Very large unified memory pool holds models that exceed consumer VRAM
- Near-silent and power-efficient for the capability
Cons
- Outside the CUDA ecosystem — training and custom kernels are awkward
- Memory is fixed at purchase and cannot be upgraded
- Raw compute per pound trails a discrete GPU build
Specifications
- Memory96 GB Unified Memory
- Memory Bandwidth819 GB/s
- Apple Order No.MU973LL/A
- architecture—
- Bluetooth5.3
- Card Dimensions / Length—
- Card Dimensions / SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Card—
- Card Dimensions / Slot—
- Card Dimensions / Width—
- ColorSilver
- cuda_cores—
- Dimensions3.7 × 7.7 × 7.7 inches
- Display SupportUp to 8 Displays
- Display Support / HDCP—
- Display Support / Multi Monitor—
- Display Support / Standard Display Connectors—
- EMC8859
- GPU Engine Specs / Base Clock (GHz)—
- GPU Engine Specs / NVIDIA CUDA™ Cores—
- GPU Engine Specs / Ray Tracing Cores—
- GPU Engine Specs / Shader Cores—
- GPU Engine Specs / Tensor Cores (AI)—
- Graphics60-Core GPU
- HDMIHDMI 2.1
- Headphone Jack3.5 mm
- Maximum macOSCurrent
- Maximum RAM256 GB*
- Memory Specs / Memory Interface Width—
- Memory Specs / Standard Memory Config—
- memory_bus—
- Model IDMac15,14
- Motherboard RAM96 GB standard; 256 GB configurable*
- ProcessorApple M3 Ultra
- Processor SpeedApprox. 4.0 GHz
- Processor TypeApple M3 Ultra
- Processor UpgradeSoldered
- RAM SlotsNone
- recommended_psu—
- Resolution SupportUp to 7680 × 4320 (8K)
- SDXC Card SlotUHS-II
- Standard Ethernet10 Gigabit Ethernet
- Standard Storage1 TB SSD
- Storage AccessibilityNot User Accessible; Removable
- Technology Support / AV1 Decode—
- Technology Support / AV1 Encode—
- Technology Support / CUDA Capability—
- Technology Support / Game Ready Drivers—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA App—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Architecture—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Broadcast—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Decoder (NVDEC)—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA DLSS—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC)—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA FreeStyle—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA G-SYNC™—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA GPU Boost™—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Highlights—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA NVLink™ (SLI-Ready)—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Omniverse—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA ShadowPlay—
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Studio Drivers—
- Technology Support / PCI Express Gen 5—
- Technology Support / Photo Mode—
- Technology Support / Ray Tracing—
- Technology Support / RTX Remix—
- Technology Support / VR Ready—
- Technology Support / Vulkan 1.4, OpenGL 4.6—
- Thermal and Power Specs / Maximum GPU Temperature (in C)—
- Thermal and Power Specs / Required System Power (W) (5)—
- Thermal and Power Specs / Supplementary Power Connectors—
- Thunderbolt Ports6 Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C)
- total_graphics_power—
- USB-A Ports2
- Weight8.0 lbs. (3.64 kg)
- Wi-Fi802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB)
The fastest consumer card available, with 32GB of GDDR7 — and the power bill to match.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- 32GB GDDR7 — runs 70B-class models quantised on a single card
- Fastest consumer silicon available
- Avoids the complexity of a multi-GPU build
Cons
- Roughly double the 5080's price for far less than double the performance
- 600W-class power delivery dictates case and PSU choices
- Poor value for anything that is not memory-bound
Specifications
- Memory32GB GDDR7
- Memory Bandwidth1792 GB/s
- Apple Order No.—
- architectureBlackwell
- Bluetooth—
- Card Dimensions / Length304 mm
- Card Dimensions / SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce CardFounders Edition Yes Varies by manufacturer
- Card Dimensions / Slot2-Slot
- Card Dimensions / Width137 mm
- Color—
- cuda_cores21760
- Dimensions—
- Display Support—
- Display Support / HDCP2.3
- Display Support / Multi Monitorup to 4 (4)
- Display Support / Standard Display Connectors3x DisplayPort (2) , 1x HDMI (3)
- EMC—
- GPU Engine Specs / Base Clock (GHz)2.01
- GPU Engine Specs / NVIDIA CUDA™ Cores21760
- GPU Engine Specs / Ray Tracing Cores4th Generation
- GPU Engine Specs / Shader CoresBlackwell
- GPU Engine Specs / Tensor Cores (AI)5th Generation
- Graphics—
- HDMI—
- Headphone Jack—
- Maximum macOS—
- Maximum RAM—
- Memory Specs / Memory Interface Width512-bit
- Memory Specs / Standard Memory Config32 GB GDDR7
- memory_bus512-bit
- Model ID—
- Motherboard RAM—
- Processor—
- Processor Speed—
- Processor Type—
- Processor Upgrade—
- RAM Slots—
- recommended_psu1000W
- Resolution Support—
- SDXC Card Slot—
- Standard Ethernet—
- Standard Storage—
- Storage Accessibility—
- Technology Support / AV1 DecodeYes
- Technology Support / AV1 EncodeYes
- Technology Support / CUDA Capability12.0
- Technology Support / Game Ready DriversYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA AppYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA ArchitectureBlackwell
- Technology Support / NVIDIA BroadcastYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Decoder (NVDEC)2x Sixth Generation
- Technology Support / NVIDIA DLSSDLSS 4 Super Resolution DLAA Ray Reconstruction Frame Generation Multi Frame Generation
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC)3x Ninth Generation
- Technology Support / NVIDIA FreeStyleYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA G-SYNC™Yes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA GPU Boost™Yes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA HighlightsYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA NVLink™ (SLI-Ready)No
- Technology Support / NVIDIA OmniverseYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA ShadowPlayYes
- Technology Support / NVIDIA Studio DriversYes
- Technology Support / PCI Express Gen 5Yes
- Technology Support / Photo ModeYes
- Technology Support / Ray TracingYes
- Technology Support / RTX RemixYes
- Technology Support / VR ReadyYes
- Technology Support / Vulkan 1.4, OpenGL 4.6Yes
- Thermal and Power Specs / Maximum GPU Temperature (in C)90
- Thermal and Power Specs / Required System Power (W) (5)1000
- Thermal and Power Specs / Supplementary Power Connectors4x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR 1x 600 W PCIe Gen 5 cable
- Thunderbolt Ports—
- total_graphics_power575W
- USB-A Ports—
- Weight—
- Wi-Fi—